I'm ready. I just don't know how our dispatchers will ever understand the system. We've also got to get more of our county depts. in. So far only 2 out of 6 have signed up. We use the other one for mutual aid, so that will help us, but one that hasn't signed up yet is another MA dept. for us. The dispatchers are what really worries me.

Congratulations, Jack.

MABAS District 31 says "Congratulations". You know; we read alot about boundary disputes. Look at what is going on in Kentucky.
With MABAS, working relationships and the training seem to improve with the formation of a MABAS.
Glad to see you "forward thinkers" making it happen down there.
CR

All right Jack, Div 17 welcomes you. It will take a little time for everything to fall into place. We've been MABAS for a few years and most mutual aids are still requested the old way. We've been getting better. It will help us when the remaining depts have their radio systems upgraded.

Good luck Jack
We can learn together. Were still in the process of getting started to. Our paperwork should have been turned in at the last MABAS meeting. Should find out more info at next months meeting. We also will have 6 or 7 counties depending on how many come on line with us. Dispatching is our big concern also. We have major problems with ours. Be a supprised if they figure out MABAS. We will be 44 wonder were Div. 45 & 46 is. They also have had to start in the last month or so.

I am in Div 8, and from the experiance I have with it is it works well. I heatthe box cards were just modified, and we are starting an automatic mutual aid agreement for structure fires between the hours of 0600 and 1800. Also all water rescue calls are dispatche to all mutual aid departments. I believe we are in 3 counties with about 10 differant fire departments. I am not sure if the numbers are correct.

The dispatchers seem to do well with it. We check out on our own frequncey and then go to one frequency for mutual aid. We don't have problems with it.

Oh and just in case anyone cares, which I am sure they don't I am 3 posts away from 500

Mike, since you and division 8 are next door to us in div 17, I'll reach out and shake your hand when you hit your 500th as I'm hitting my 200th post.
Speaking of the topic at hand, I think div 17 is fortunate to be all of Steph. county. Our ETSB worked with Verizon to install a new router in our phone system. With this new router, all City of Freeport 911 calls stay with the main PSAP at Freeport PD and all 911 calls outside of the city are routed to our secondary PSAP at the Sheriff's Dept. We have an advantage in that the T/Cs answering our 911 calls are also dispatching us. We feel this is beneficial to both the caller and the responding agencies in that there seems to be fluid communication and less dispatching mistakes.

I've seen that our division is divided into groups. I haven't had time to ask anybody what that'll mean, since my county is a group all by itself and another county is 2 groups by itself.
Our PSAP answers all the calls in the county and dispatches, too. Depending on the TC working, it works or it doesn't. We don't have a city big enough to need its own dispatcher so the sheriff's people do it all. A big problem is getting the sheriff to keep the TCs on their toes. He's just buying time until he retires and just would rather not mess with them if he didn't have to. Any problems we have just get a slap on the wrist and don't do it again. That may change since we finally have a Fire Chief on the county board. He's got some ideas that might work. Probably take a while.

My posts reflect my views and opinions, not the organization I work for or my IAFF local. Some of which they may not agree. I.A.C.O.J. member
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Co-author of the Second Amendment
during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution, 1788Elevator Rescue Information

SP- MABAS is statewide (and includes some chunks of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri), and runs the gammut from Chicago to poe-dunk little Hinckley. As far as training together, it depends a lot on the Division. For example, I am in Div. 6; the only full-time departments are City of DeKalb and City of Sycamore. But they participate in drills. I know that closer to the city there are interdeprtment/mutual aid drills that go on routinely.

It is a great way to distribute resouces without stripping anybody. It is also becoming a means to develop regional tactics, RIT, and other issues. Now they have expanded it to include Homeland Security Information dissemination.

There are no real minimums except to require minimum staffing on mutual aid rigs, a single accountablity system, and use of the Icindent Command System. But even these are stretched a bit.

Any kind of dept. can belong to MABAS. Training together is good. The agreement spells out things like insurance requirements, who pays for what, setting up box cards for who responds to what and with what, accountability on the response and on scene, radio frequencies, staging, incident management system (ICS) and whatever else needs to be on paper. It's basically an iron clad mutual aid agreement that is the same for all members. We're just getting into it but it should work well, even for our volunteer departments that are spread out all over the country side.